Creativity and the True Self

 Creativity and the True Self

One of the impacts of living to please others and to live with a mask is to limit creativity.  The true self creates a safe place for true creativity and free expression.  It flows from your center and  allows you to tap into genuine creative energy.  The creation of the world illustrates the virtue of creativity that flows from God.  In becoming more like our father in heaven we gain this creative edge that surpasses normal human creativity.  

When you review the creation you find a God who made elephants, octopuses, zebras, sloths and  skunks obviously had a creative intellect. From venus flytraps to saguaro cacti He outdid himself in his creative efforts.  I lived in Arizona for a brief time.  I was there long enough to experience the surprises of the desert.  The life that existed in what I thought was a barren land.  The beautiful flowers that were on the cacti that brightened the desert amazed me.  

The false self is always concerned with response of others.  It may censor you in ways that limit what you create.  It may twist your creative effort from the God given inspiration that flows as a child of God.  The freedom of the creative process in the mind of the believer is an asset that many do not recognize.  The art, writing, and ideas that flow from a sanctified mind is only limited by the level of connection to the ultimate creator.  The inspiration flows from that union surpasses any other source. 

Another reality in the creative process is the quest for originality.  Every artist and creative wants to make a unique mark.  They want to stand out among their peers.  You cannot be original while living life by comparison.  Only the true self is capable of true originality.  It is really a collaboration with the eternal.  It flows from the union of us with the father as we walk with our true face.  

I have known lots of successful creative people in my career.  I have talked to them about their creative process.  Everyone of them is aware of some external thing that occurs in that exchange.  They do not claim to be in control of that spark of inspiration.  After a lifetime of experience it is still a mystery exactly what happens.  They cannot explain it.  God enters the picture here.  He sanctifies the creative process.  It surpasses the natural ability to be creative.  It is important to realize that when God enters the process it is transformed.  In a small way I have experienced this in sermon writing.  There are sermons that seem to flow and you are only a conduit.  They surpass any human process.  There is an external source of every word.  

If you want to experience your greatest creativity connect to the divine creator.  He will transform your process.  That is only the beginning of your 

Accepting and Embracing Your True Identity

One of the struggles most people have is believing in your worth.  One of the often-quoted formulas that people use to estimate the value of themselves or others is what you do, what you have, or what others think of you.  Another way to express this is your performance, possessions, or the perception of others.  The issue of these schemes is their external nature.  All have to do with things that are outside you or outside your control. 

You have intrinsic value.  That means that you are like a bar of gold, a string of pearls, or a 5 karat diamond you have value for your existence not your performance.  They have value that is internal it is built into what they are. They do not ever lose their value. In fact they retain their value no matter what.  If you have watched “The Antique Road Show” one of the best moments is when someone brings an item that doesn’t look like much, but in the valuation of the experts it is found that is rare and has surprisingly great value.  It does not appear to be of any significant value, but it has great value.  When this happens there is a gasp and a look of surprise. 

When you look in the mirror you may not see much, but when your creator looks at you he sees your true value.  He sees that you were worth dying for, worth providing for and worth the cost of your redemption.  The following statement reflects this reality. 

“I am special, unique, original, one of a kind.  I was made in His image and likeness.  I am unequivocally, irreducibly & indivisibly, unique.  I am separate, particular and unrepeatable.  He has assigned me great value and his love for me is beyond expression.  In fact He loves me so much He invites me into an intimate relationship and has adopted me as his son.  I was designed and gifted to serve a specific task in His Kingdom.  I will experience fulfillment and satisfaction only if I cooperate with Him, follow His plan and experience all that He has for me.”

This statement is a combination of concepts that I have uncovered in my research from a variety of sources.  It is a reminder of what God thinks of each of us.  You and I are not who we think we are, we are who creator thinks we are.  It is not the first impulse for most of us.  We have so much life experience that convinces us of negative opinions.  It is much easier to accept them than to believe the truth.  Satan has deceived us.  This deception paralyzes us and keeps us from accepting the truth and from embracing our true destiny.  It is a tragedy to live a total lifetime wallowing in insignificance based on this deception.  You have a greater destiny than you realize.  This is the truth.

Sanctified Self Awareness

 Sanctified Self Awareness

 Throughout my blogs, you will find me encouraging you to find your true self through your connection to the Father.  I believe that is still true, but I am not minimizing the value of self-awareness.  While I believe that man is flawed and any self-perception can be skewed this does not take away the importance of paying attention to the things that you can learn from introspection.  I found a clear statement from the unknown Mystic who wrote “The Cloud of Unknowing”.  He admonishes that even if he had the intercession of the saints, angels, and both clergy and fellow members of the congregation it would not equal to even a “little self-knowledge”.  He further believed that when you acquired that self-knowledge “you will very soon come to an experiential knowledge of God’s goodness and love”.  This is a reward beyond measure. 

It is not hard to imagine the process that allows this to occur.  The more you see yourself clearly, the more you will be forced to admit your need for Him.  It will force you onto your knees in confession and to request his “grace and help in time of need”.  It begins with your permission to allow him to speak into your life.  The consent of your will to open up to Him and the faith to accept His words and to act on them is imperative.  No intercession can accomplish this.  It is not that there is no value to intercession, rather it is that the decision always reverts to you.  He does not force Himself.  You can live a deluded life in the false self if you choose to.  No one else can force you to live in reality and to embrace the moments of blatant revelation that interrupt you when you begin to pretend. 

I encourage you to be vigilant and aware for these moments that occur.  Pay attention to the moments of reality that crash your trip into the Land of Make-Believe.  God is faithful to bring clarity and to call your bluff.  He will show up if you leave room for His presence.  Take courage and allow Him to speak into you.  He wants to more than anything …

Find your Magic

I recently watched the Marvel movie, “The Eternals”.  In one scene one of the demi-gods was struggling to learn how to understand and control their newfound powers.  While this is all fantasy and doesn’t reflect my theology, it got me thinking about the uncovering of your true self.  Rather than focus on the Herculean struggle that it can be this thought, it changed my perspective completely.  It can be difficult, but it is also the biggest adventure of our journey.  The rewards of living in your true self are very real.  Your “magic” as the quote refers to is your ticket to freedom, life, and fulfillment.  Once you connect to your creator and live a life of intimacy with Him you will find a whole new level of existence.  Your cooperation with Him and submission to His plan will bring you into harmony with your life journey.  Like an alcoholic describing his process of becoming sober, it is difficult, but the process is worth it. 

This shift is very important.  When you live with masks and pretend your life does not work.  When you begin to uncover the person that God created you to be you will find life more abundant.  The submission to Him and the courage to be unapologetically yourself is to live in intimacy with your creator and to embrace his will for your life.  It is to experience the joy of belonging.  It is to discover your place in the healthiest, most loving family there is.  It is to find the peace that passes all understanding.  That is why the focus on the outcome is so important in this process.  You may have to face and process things that you wanted to avoid.  You may have to acknowledge things about yourself that cause you discomfort and pain.  You may end up dealing with many complications in relationships as you begin to transition into your creator’s image of you.  You will experience a great release from bondage and experience liberation at a level that is unprecedented. 

Like most spiritual processes this is an ongoing activity.  Satan is ready to bring back the bondage and chaos if you succumb to the temptation to pretend.  It is as close as a single decision to pretend.  The chilling effect on your spirit will come quickly.  Like all sin, it is actually more natural than living righteously.  It will feel better because you are in control of the process and you know the territory.  The chaos and bondage will return and even that will feel more natural than freedom.  So remember, this is an ongoing effort that will require vigilance and awareness.  This is a lifetime journey, so don’t become oblivious and apathetic.  Listen to the voice of your creator.  He will guide your steps.

 

In The Meantime

The meaning of the title is a very old phrase from the 14^th century.  It means” in the intervening time” or the time in between something and something else.  I recently struggled to write anything because my mind was occupied and I could not focus on anything but life itself.  I was in the “meantime” or the time between.  You live your life in that space.  You have experienced one thing and you are waiting for something else.  You are in between the events of your lives just waiting.  You can begin to view this as wasted time or unproductive time, but you are wrong.  God uses these times in your life often to speak.  You must be in a place to listen, but he is preparing you for the next thing.  In his moments of intimacy with you in prayer and meditation, contemplation and prayer he speaks.  He comforts, he encourages, he admonishes, and he prepares you.  Any relationship needs quiet moments to catch up and to process.  God wants to spend time with you!  He wants to hold you in his arms and reassure you about whatever is causing you to struggle and doubt.  It is often in the meantime when you think nothing is happening.

Satan wants to rob you of this time!  He wants it to be a time of doubt and struggle.  In the quiet, you can hear the voices and feel the emotions.  It is a fertile time for your doubts to take root and to despair.  It is a fertile time for despair to take root.  Any good that this time can produce can be prohibited or erased.  Satan does not want you to experience the intimacy of this time.  He wants to drive a wedge between you and your creator.  He will do anything in his power to steal the potential of these times.  He does not want increased intimacy between you and your creator.  It threatens his schemes.  The only answer is to snuggle in and relax with Him and begin to prepare for whatever is on the other side of this lull in the action.  Pay attention to the cues that are occurring.  If you don’t quiet down and listen you may miss them. 

I grew up in farm country in central Indiana.  I had the chance to watch the cycle of corn that grew all around me.  In the winter, when the fields were fallow it would have been a mistake to assume that they were not doing anything productive.  The farmers knew that the soil needed a periodic break to replenish the nutrients.  There would be the danger of stripping the soil and making it less productive or not productive at all if it were not allowed to rest.  There were seasons that a farmer might plant nothing in a field and let it remain fallow.  You too need seasons of rest to replenish your resources.  Trust the God of the journey to guide you in the process.  Don’t struggle and miss the benefits of the season.  You will return stronger than ever ready to do “every good work”(Hebrews 13:211-23) if you allow Him to lead!

Destiny

The word destiny is a form of the word destination.  It challenges the idea that we live a purposeless, meandering, pointless existence.  It projects a life that is leading to somewhere specific.  To me the thought that in His kingdom that I have a destiny and am heading for a specific destination is comforting.  The devil would have me believe that this life was random and that I was a victim of the chaos of the events around me.  He would have me seek meaning, identity, and direction from schemes of my own making.  He knows my nature of needing answers to the big questions and tries to misdirect me from reality.  But I know that my destiny is found in my creator.

This is a comforting thought in the chaos of life.  Though there is a plan and destination, the way is not straight and will have difficulties.  I will struggle to make sense of things.  I will not comprehend all the twists and turns that are in the path of my journey.  This confidence in my creator gives me a sense of purpose even in difficult moments.  It gives me stamina when I feel like giving up.  It gives me faith when I begin to doubt.  It gives me perspective and direction when I get lost and lose my way.  God is faithful to remind us when we lose that sense of destiny when we begin to forget.

The phrase “be strong and courageous” is repeated to each of the patriarchs when God began to sense that they needed a reminder.  Your destiny will require the best of you.  It will require all of you.  It will require strength and courage.  It will test you.  By its very nature, it will demand that you put away your masks and work out of reality.  It will be based on your unique gifts and skills.  It is what you are created for.  That means no confusion of identity.  No rejection of yourself or your creator will be allowed.  How can you walk in your destiny if you reject the giver of that destiny and the very skills it will require.  It is not possible to be weak and remain faithful to your true identity.

Your destiny is also a form of promise.  When Satan tries to discourage you, it stands as a stake in the ground to remind you that he is lying and cannot be trusted.  Remember that his job is to “steal, kill and destroy…” (John 10:10), while God promises “life and life more abundant” (John 10:10).  When Satan speaks he deceives.  That is his “natural language (John 8:44).  Your destiny stands whether you feel it or not.  It remains in Him as His promise to you and your future.  It may not be visible at this moment.  It may not seem to be moving fast enough.  One of my profs in college used to say, “God’s clock keeps perfect time.”  He does know what he is doing even the way may seem chaotic.  His promise remains even though the way is not without obstacles.  The power of His promise shows up uniquely when the way is difficult.  When the way seems dark and the obstacles rise ahead of you remember, your destiny is intact.  Your creator and the one who made the promise are still working on your behalf.  He has not forgotten you.  Remember to hold tightly to His hand so he can lead you through.  He will not let you fall.

Moments of Truth

When you think about the process of revealed truth from the father regarding your identity it is easy to romanticize the process.  You imagine some soft whisper from the father in a state of contemplation.  While this may for some on occasion it is just as likely to occur in a moment of struggle and chaos.  It is often in a moment failure and is very messy.  While the outcome may be stellar the process is not pleasant.  Uncovering your masks and the deception in your life is not something that you look forward to.  The reality is that you do have areas of need and they will show up when you least expect it.  There never is a great time to look your issues in the face.  

When you see yourself honestly you will often grieve at the realization of the sin and struggle.  The impact of your selfishness and sin will naturally bring repentance.  You will not excuse your behavior.  You will recognize it for what it is.  You will see your lack of trust and assertions of independence in a new perspective and begin to submit and trust.  Humility becomes more and more natural because you gain an accurate picture of yourself.  Repentance becomes a way of life instead of an intrusion.

God is able to infuse his power into your life and use you in new ways.  Your capability will become greater and greater as he does things through you.  You can become a channel of his power and grace.  But the journey begins with submitting to the process and experiencing the discomfort and tears of these uncomfortable moments of truth.  Even when they are difficult they will spur you to grow in your journey.  Even when the truth does not float down like a feather as you make your journey.it is not a stranger to you if you are open to truth.  The nature of the journey is one of connecting to the source and allowing Him to lead you on a journey of transformation and truth. 

If you walk in humility these moments will be easier.  You will learn to kneel at the feet of the truth giver and submit to the adjustments that are required.  He will lead you to the things that are the obstacles to what he is doing in the moment.  He knows what you need and will put them in a sequence that matches your needs at that moment.  This will be a lifetime process.  It will flow naturally through your relationship with your creator.  Pray that He will show you who you really are and accept His truth.  He will be faithful.

Excuses, Excuses

One of the behaviors that plague your effort in your journey toward authenticity and living in your true self is making excuses.  An excuse about some misstep or bad choice deflects responsibility.  It avoids addressing the issue by giving a reason for your action.  This behavior avoids truth and gives cover to bad behaviors.  I have done many things that were regrettable.  For some, I have made excuses and tried tp justify them.  I have learned that assessing my behavior, accepting responsibility and learning from my actions is a better way.  It helps me overcome whatever issue I have uncovered and kept me honest.  It is important to live in this truth to maintain your authenticity and minimize self-deception.  You need to face yourself squarely to avoid this hiding behind the hollow logic of excuses. 

The true self recognizes its faults.  It reckons with reality.  It learns and grows.  It does not allow room for hiding.  The false self helps you remain in the dark.  It feeds the lies and hides behind the masks of excuses.  The truth will be right ahead of you, and you will sidestep it for your more comfortable explanation It will enable you to be pacified, excused, and avoiding reality.  It is an effective but destructive practice.  It creates another world that you can live in.  It is a place of nonreality that pacifies you and keeps you feeling safe in your own little bubble of non-reality.  It avoids all chances for growth.  These only come with an honest assessment of yourself, at least as honest of an assessment that you can have at that moment. 

A final factor that either increases or decreases your susceptibility to falling for this is the people you are surrounded by.  If you are surrounded by truth-tellers they keep you anchored in reality.  The truth must be spoken in love, but it is still spoken(Eph. 4:15).  Sometimes this is referred to as co-dependence.  Bad company will say what you want to hear or worse accept and believe your excuses.  They will not make you face reality and may even be deluded themselves.  They will derail your quest toward an authentic life as well as discourage any real self-reflection.  False friends encourage the false self.  They themselves are usually living in the false self and you are both pretending for each other.  That is a tragic situation.  It is a life of pretense and illusion.  It is truly tragic.

The choice to take the journey toward life and true self begins with embracing truth at all costs.  Only the bright light of truth can keep you grounded on the foundation of reality.  Excuses only perpetuate the false illusions that you are projecting.  As a believer who trusts the creator, you accept the truth as his words.  You welcome his voice and trust him to guide you.  You expect to hear from him, and it is not an intrusion.  

Shedding your Demons

The price of living in the true self and enjoying an authentic life is also a choice to face your demons.  The word demon is a great description of my subject.  In this context, demons are areas of your that are damaged and that you refuse to resolve.  You build walls and choose to avoid them.  They form areas of your life that are off-limits to God and everyone else.  They create areas of pretense that lead to living in the false self.  They set up an obstacle to any effort to becoming the person that your creator created you to be.  They are demons in the sense that they are used as a tool of the Devil himself in his effort to derail your quest to embrace your true self and to become the unique, beautiful, and gifted person that you were created to be.  After they sinned Adam and Eve could not face their Creator (Genesis 3:8).  Their response was to hide.  They could not face what they had done and who they had become.  They were afraid and were ashamed for the first time.  This shame is not unlike your failure to deal with your own damage.  You would rather hide than face whatever you are avoiding.  This leads to a life of avoidance that is toxic and false.  It kills life and creates continual pretense.

So what is the solution?  It begins with recognizing these areas as you encounter them in your journey.  They will be sensitive areas that resist exposure.  Like a splinter in your finger, they will need to be dealt with but painful to approach.  While the end result is healthier, they will cause pain or discomfort because of their very nature.  Your pattern of avoidance may have ended, but the issues are still difficult.  When you choose to move forward to heal regardless of the struggle you reclaim ground that the devil has had in your life.  You can begin to recover parts of your life that have been hiding behind a protective wall. 

This choice is courageous.  It is choosing life rather than death.  It is a choice of health over illness.  It is a choice of cleansing over infection.  It is finally a choice of freedom over bondage.  It is the removal of an obstacle to living with no hiding or masks.  There will always be the temptation to retreat behind them again.  Sin is an addiction that doesn’t let go easily.  I urge you to be courageous and pay attention in your journey.  If you pay attention and stay Spirit aware He will lead you to all truth and show you the places that need the exposure of the Son to be cleansed.  You will experience greater and greater freedom.  Your effort to remain mask-free will get easier as you uncover the layers of deception that you have created.  Your spirit will become lighter and grow to experience freedom at a new level.  This begins with trusting Him enough with your hidden parts to let Him do His work in you.  

The Fear of Living as your True Self

Your rejection of who you are as created by God reveals more than you or I may care to know.  Under the surface, it exposes a deep fear of not being good enough in the eyes of our peers.  It is tragic because it is a rejection of the unique, precious, valuable being that you were created.  That is traded for a common, unoriginal, pretense that is based on your perceived expectations of others, stated or not.  The loss to both you and to the Christian community at large is unimaginable. 

You are endowed by your creator with skills and gifts that are specifically provided to the body through you.  You belong to the Kingdom as a son or daughter and an heir.  God has created for you a specific place in the grand scheme of the universe.  Fear only paralyzes you while the enemy of your soul works to redirect you and to discourage you from trusting your creator.  Your identity becomes a reflection of the perceived expectations of your peer group.  If you truly accept your identity as a creation of the Creator of the universe and created for a specific role in His Kingdom it radically changes your life.  It answers many questions of purpose, value, and role in the universe.

Satan would rather keep these very questions unanswered so that you wander from one thing to another attempting to answer them.  You will settle for a life of pretense and insecurity.  Satan is the accuser(Revelation 12:10), the deceiver(Genesis 3:4-5), and a liar(John 8:44).  His goal is to steal, kill and destroy(John 10:10).  The next passage is especially relevant to the fear that I mentioned earlier.  He appears as a “roaring lion”.  His roar is intended to scare you into rejecting who you are and into what he and everyone else wants you to be.  A lion roars to intimidate its prey.  You and I are warned to be alert because he is “seeking someone to devour” (I Peter 5:8).  He is stalking you and desires to take your life and replace what is real with counterfeits.  Fear is one of the greatest tool in his scheme to do so.  He knows that once you have experienced what is real and ultimately fulfilling that his offers will be less compelling and will not tempt you.  

The Need for both the Mystic and the Theologian

The mystics, and I consider myself in that category, sought after relationship with God through surrender and the practice of various spiritual exercises to increase intimacy with God.  This lead to the development of specific practices such as Christian meditation, contemplation and the practice of silence.  Many of them historically cloistered and lived in community or even practiced isolation in a hermitage.  It makes me different sometimes and has been the latest development in my own spiritual life.

I recently had some time with a pastor who was the opposite of me in style.  While he would agree with many of the things that I profess, he is also what I would classify as a theologian.  He is very concerned with orthodoxy and a black in white biblical focus.  We had a great discussion on a variety of topics of faith and it was very productive.  It was apparent after our time together that we viewed the world through a different lens.

In reflecting on our time together I realized how much mystics need theologians.  Both are essential to maintain balance and orthodoxy.  Our faith must be based on scripture first.  While a mystic provides the soul and passion of the gospel, the theologian provides the guardrails.  The church has been fighting heresy since the book of Acts.  The early centuries of the church were rife with unbiblical teaching that had to be corrected.  The Church Counsels were held to settle orthodoxy and correct error.  The standard remains the test of how any teaching or practice lines up with scripture.  Your spiritual experience is not the authoritative standard for truth.  Man is very capable of instituting heresy into faith with great enthusiasm without testing it against the Word.

As you travel your journey you will experience many questions.  Your faith and hope will be tested.  The Word of God is your source to test all things.  It provides the precious promises for whatever you need.  It provides the confirmation of his faithfulness and character.  This will provide an anchor for your soul when you are tested.  Another consideration while secondary in many respects is our own theological filter.  If your theology differs than scripture, then you have bigger issues.  But there is great value in measuring your experience in light of your theological framework.  A final standard in measuring your experience is against historical Christianity.  The early church fathers and historical Christianity remain a great value in assessing your experience.  Ecclesiastes 1:9 tells us that, “…there is nothing new under the sun.”  All Christianity is indebted to the work of the early church leaders who defined the faith we inherited.  They faced many tests that challenged the scripture and early church tradition.  They were the closest to the era that Jesus actually taught.  The reality is that your experience is likely not new and there is a biblical precedent that has value.  It is important to respect each of these.  In your journey it will be easier to have guides who have come before.  They give a path that can offer great guidance.  Finally remember, it all begins and ends in scripture.